TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Remote Desktop Services

    Score8.8 out of 10
    N/ARemote Desktop Services from Microsoft is virtual desktop and remote user session technology.N/A
    Pricing
    Remote Desktop Services
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Remote Desktop Services
    Free Trial
    No
    Free/Freemium Version
    No
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    No
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Remote Desktop Services
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    Chose Remote Desktop Services
    Because it is a built-in, free solution for a small set of managed computers. No extra licenses required. No budget. Setup and configuration is instanteneous.
    Incentivized
    Chose Remote Desktop Services
    Same functionality but RDP is already installed on Windows so no client to install and it's cheaper.
    Incentivized
    Chose Remote Desktop Services
    All remote desktop or desktop virtualization services are quite costly and very complicated to set up. Microsoft's Remote Desktop Services has the advantage of being very available for many years, meaning practically any device can be used as a workstation. Tablets, …
    Incentivized
    Chose Remote Desktop Services
    Remote Desktop is great for onsite or point-to-point connections without having to have a mediator type server.
    Incentivized
    Chose Remote Desktop Services
    We used RDS on-site primarily because of how easy it is for users to transition from their own desktop to a remote desktop. However, from off-site, there are VPN and other security considerations to take into account, and the process gets a little more complex. In this …
    Incentivized
    Chose Remote Desktop Services
    Solutions can be expensive and often offer more options than you need/want. Paying those extra dollars is tough when you have a budget. RDS in many cases works well and is cost effective.
    Incentivized
    Chose Remote Desktop Services
    I use Remote Desktop Services only and have never used other services to replace it.
    Incentivized
    Chose Remote Desktop Services
    Since Remote Desktop Services comes with the Windows OS, there's no need to install any additional software or agent for it to function. Even on the Mac, there's a client that can be installed for this to run properly. Unfortunately, unlike TeamViewer or Ultra VNC, Remote …
    Incentivized
    Chose Remote Desktop Services
    Among all the reasons I've previously listed the main reason for choosing RDS is for the reliability and fast connection.
    Incentivized
    Chose Remote Desktop Services
    RDS is built into Windows and does not require as much extra setup and licensing fees.
    Incentivized
    Chose Remote Desktop Services
    Remote Desktop Services is an initiation from Microsoft in my view. The rest all are adapters for this and have a considerably inovated feature base.
    Incentivized
    Chose Remote Desktop Services
    We have reviewed Citrix Xen Desktop and VMware's VDI solutions. For the cost, when compared to what Remote Desktop Services can provide us there was no contest. Remote Desktop Services can provide us all the features we require with little to no cost since we are an EA customer …
    Incentivized
    Chose Remote Desktop Services
    I also used 2x Client and Citrix in the past. Both worked nice. Citrix is a little more complex and once with Windows updates damaged a Citrix installation causing all ICA traffic to not accept connections. 2x Client was simple and free for 3 connections (or used to be). Both …
    Incentivized
    Chose Remote Desktop Services
    We selected Remote Desktop Services based upon price alone. Other solutions on the market are significantly more expensive, but if your company can foot the bill you should seriously consider products that have been on the market for longer. The lack of an ability to easily …
    Incentivized
    Chose Remote Desktop Services
    Mainly licensing optimization, as Remote Desktop Services CALs are needed anyway for other products.
    Incentivized
    Chose Remote Desktop Services
    Remote Desktop Services is close to free, it is native and performs far better from a user experience point of view with almost no lag and excellent integration to the normal desktop environment. Even if another product is used Remote Desktop Services still forms part of the …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    5 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    5 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    5 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    5 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    80%
    Implementation went as expected
    4 Answers
    Features
    Remote Desktop Services
    Remote Administration
    Comparison of Remote Administration features of Remote Desktop Services
    Feature
    Remote Desktop Services
    8.9
    3 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Screen sharing9.33 Ratings
    File transfer9.33 Ratings
    Secure remote access with Smart Card authentication8.01 Ratings
    Access to sleeping/powered-off computers8.01 Ratings
    Over-the-Internet remote session8.63 Ratings
    Initiate remote control from mobile10.02 Ratings
    Remote management of servers & workstations9.02 Ratings
    Remote Active Directory® management9.02 Ratings
    Centralized management dashboard9.02 Ratings
    Session record9.52 Ratings
    Monitoring and Alerts8.02 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Remote Desktop Services
    Small Businesses
    N-able Take Control
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Remote Desktop Manager
    Score9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    BeyondTrust Privileged Remote Access
    Score8.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Remote Desktop Services
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.3
    (17 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    6.6
    (2 ratings)
    Performance
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    3.0
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Remote Desktop Services
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Microsoft
    Remote Desktop Services provides access to work environments from any device. This allows us to ensure business continuity in case of disaster. It provides admins more control over access and security. Remote Desktop Services simplifies software updates and compliance management by reducing the need to act on end users devices.
    Read full review
    Pros
    Microsoft
    • When you connect with RDS, everything looks and feels (and is) exactly like you're sitting at that desktop. This is great for us and for users.
    • You can sign in with RDS and the desktop will be the same as when you left it (if you choose to set it up that way).
    • Although they take some setup, RemoteApps are a very handy way to let users access a program without requiring them to actually connect to a remote desktop on the server.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Microsoft
    • Remote Desktop Services currently does not support multiple monitors on the terminal server. Unlike other applications such as Teamviewer, there's no feature to toggle between multiple screens even if they were connected to the terminal server.
    • Remote Desktop Services should provide an option to scale up or down the screen size after a connection is established. Currently you can only adjust the screen size prior to a connection is established. So you'll have to take a best guess at what display screen resolution will fit best on your screen.
    • Remote Desktop Services should offer some kind of menu to send special key strokes like Ctrl+Alt+Del to the terminal server. Currently the substitute for that particular combination is Ctrl+Alt+End. But I have yet to discover a replacement for other combination keystrokes such as Alt+PrintScrn.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Microsoft
    The initial setup for Remote Desktop Services is complex, and licensing is costly. Each user connects to their virtual desktop hosted by a single server or group of servers, so a change or issue with servers quickly impacts every single user at the same time. Aside from that, users appreciate seeing their same personal desktop from any device or geographical location.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Microsoft
    There are some third party tools available that allow you to manage multiple connections.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Microsoft
    As with any Microsoft Server product, support for Remote Desktop Services requires a paid support package. These are license-based and very costly, on top of the already costly product licensing. Microsoft's licensing is complicated to begin with, so setting up licensing alone essentially requires a licensing expert's counsel. There is community documentation and support available on Microsoft websites, as well as community websites.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Microsoft
    We selected Remote Desktop Services based upon price alone. Other solutions on the market are significantly more expensive, but if your company can foot the bill you should seriously consider products that have been on the market for longer. The lack of an ability to easily upgrade farm servers has been a challenge for us - although it is still faster than updating an application on 2000+ machines. The lack of a centralized management console in 2008 R2 is also challenging, but you get by with the tools available to you. If you don't have the money to spend on Citrix or VMWare Horizon, Remote Desktop Services is a decent replacement.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Microsoft
    • Allowed remote users access from home
    • Shared file access for multipolar users from a centralized location
    • Cost to add additional users when maxed out
    • Purchase multiple licenses for programs to run in virtual machines. Or unable to run on a virtual machine
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots